1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a paper feeding device, and more particularly, to a paper feeding device suitable for a multi-function peripheral.
2. Description of Related Art
In the informationized society, offices are equipped with automatic equipments such as a scanner, a photocopier or a printer. Users can perform various document processing operations through the use of these automatic equipments. If these automatic equipments are individually disposed in the office, they may occupy a considerable amount of space. Accordingly, a multi-function peripheral (MFP) which integrates the function of photocopying, printing and scanning has been developed to solve the foregoing problem.
The user usually places a stack of paper sheets in the MFP for photocopying, printing or scanning. In order to enable the MFP to pick up one single sheet of paper each time, the paper feeding module typically includes a paper separating member. A most common way is to use buckling of the paper sheet. For example, the buckling of the paper sheet can be achieved by using a friction force of a paper separation member such as a friction pad or a saw-tooth structure. However, this way of paper separation has an operation limitation, i.e., the paper sheet is required to be disposed at a particular range of angle with respect to the paper separating member for effective paper separation. In other words, if the paper sheets are not arranged to be disposed at the particular angle with respect to the paper separating member prior to paper separation, the probability of successful separation would be reduced.